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1600 elo scrub writing about the one char i can carry a game with.
Brand, The Burning Vengeance
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand1.jpg)
Masteries: 9/0/21
Summoners: Ignite Flash
Skills: WEQWWR R>W>E>Q
*More details in skilling section
Runes:
Red - Magic Pen
Yellow - Personal pref, i use ap/lvl, almost anything is viable here
Blue - Ap/lvl
Quints - Flat AP
Items:
Boots + 3x HP pots
Dringx2-3
Sorc Shoes
Deathcap
Revolver
Either get a defensive item such as banshees etc or continue with AP
Void staff if they're resist heavy
Zonyas/Rylais if they aren't building resist and some extra tankiness/utility is what you need
The game usually ends around the Deathcap/Voidstaff area.
Core items:
Dring x2-3
Sorc Shoes
Deathcap
WotA (optional, but works extremely well with AP heavy teams)
Abilities
Blaze (Passive)
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand2.png)
Brand's spells light his targets ablaze, dealing 2% of their maximum Health in magic damage per second for 4 seconds. (Max: 80 damage vs. Monsters)
Early game rage inducer for enemies without pots.
Sets up all your combos, if your target is not on fire and your E/R are not up you should probably wait so your spells can actually be effective (Q is useless without blaze, W is gray area). Try to maximize Blaze’s up time vs baron/dragon while getting boosted W’s in.
Sear (Q)
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand3.png)
Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals magic damage. If the target is ablaze, Sear will stun the target for 2 seconds.
This is what makes or breaks you in 1v1's and can define whether you live or die under focus in team fights. If you can't land it, you're basically fucked; this is where Rylais + E comes into play since E is conditionally an AoE spell Rylais treats it as a single target spell for the slow which is awesome.
Btw the hit box for this thing is effing tiny, so it takes some getting used to.
Pillar of Flame (W)
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand4.png)
After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing magic damage to enemy units with the area. Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage.
AoE bomb, usually used after a E/R+Q combo. There are rare occasions where you can do an unsafe combo (no stun) where you nuke their entire team in one rotation but i'll talk about that later in the team fights section. They have to screw up big time for that to happen.
Also, you can cancel brand’s casting animation directly after you cast it by moving, this helps a lot when kiting/stunning with Rylais.
Tips:
Landing W before boots is pretty much guaranteed, and after boots it's like most skill shots. After the first couple attempts you can usually predict how a person jukes unless they're extremely conscious about doing random dodge patterns. Most people have a habit of juking in different directions @ their tower, in the mid of their lane, and @ your tower. They usually head wherever they feel safe, ie directly back or towards a bush that they know is safe (warded) etc.
Conflagration (E)
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand5.png)
Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing magic damage to them. If the target is ablaze, Conflagration spreads to nearby enemies.
#1 ezmode farmer. Line up as many creeps (casters early on) as you can with W, hit E on the one in the middle, profit. No Joke, all you need is levels, not AP for this to work.
SMARTCAST THIS ABILITY even if you don't smart cast Q (i prefer not to smart cast skill shots with moderate range ie Brand/Morg/Lux Q's), being able to EQ the right target as fast as possible is how you don't die.
Pyroclasm (R)
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand6.png)
Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire, dealing magic damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases.
Use R when the need arises or when you know it will bounce, don't save it for that perfect moment where 2 enemies are humping each other, they can usually separate before it does max damage.
Don't be afraid to R-->Q on a single target, the cooldown is pretty short and that combo can save your life if a melee jungler ganks you while E and W are on cooldown.
Skilling, Laning, Team Fights, Etc
Skills
Skill order is pretty flexible first 3 levels mainly since you want at least 1 rank in all your spells so you can combo but this is my most common set up.
EWQWWR R>W>E>Q
or
WEQWWR R>W>E>Q
If you're getting into a level 1 team fight W first will be your best bet. E-->Q at level 2 if you're wary of level 2 gank such as shaco with red. If they are harassing and I need stuns to get through the first few levels I level Q second, E-->Q + Autos does more damage than E+W but it's only possible if they want to be on your side of the creeps @ level 2.
If the person i'm laning against is playing afk farm mode i get W second to nuke them when they try to last hit (really easy if they didn't go boots first).
You shouldn't be doing much until level 2 (being able to get combos helps a ton), and to do anything significant (zoning or killing @ level three and beyond) you usually need a stun no matter what.
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand7.jpg)
Laning
[QQ]Irelia is no fun, be as safe as possible vs her and just farm against her for the most part. She can dodge your attacks while getting cs pretty easily and even if you do hit her it just opens you up for a stun while one of your abilities is on CD so you lose the damage trade usually. Then she heals.[/QQ]
Brand is viable in all lanes, just gotta play safe and not expect to carry the game if you get bot, always try for solo. His mana costs are crazy low too so runes + dring can let you harass for a long time.
Be a dick from the get go with w's and e's if you started boots first and there isn't a threat of an early gank, ie enemy mummy jungle or ww jungle have pretty poor level 2 ganks.
Note #1, you can force your laning opponents to miss last hits or smack them for guaranteed damage even if they have boots Ex. they dodge your W but have to walk through their flaming creeps to grab that last hit, E the flaming creeps for a slightly longer range E and get your farm anyways while they lose more hp. Shoving them out of lane or forcing them to super low HP makes your lane safe most of the time.
Note #2, if you can, get blue from your jungler asap. Against some lanes that aren't good at pushing you can shove the lane with blue then go do stuff elsewhere ie. help your jungle gank or just go gank a solo lane; then haul ass back for no major loss in lane while possibly setting up kills (forcing summoners etc) in other areas. If you plan on ganking try to take paths to the other lanes that aren't warded. Ex if you're mid for the top team and you want to gank bot you can go behind their red then pop out behind the other teams bot pair while avoiding river.
Against most lanes you can start being a major jackass around level 3 and zone them with the threat of a EQW combo or just a WE/EW when they're around their caster creeps. Depending on their jungle you can just stand at the melee creeps and be super scary to other champs.
In a Duo lane try WQ combos from long range if they’re dancing in and out of the bushes, if you connect it sets your partner up for free damage since the stun is so long. The W should hit just before Q because of the delay.
In 1v1's try to start the fight around enemy creeps, an extra R bounce can be the difference between them dieing or you dieing. Also, your passive pulls tower aggro like red buff so watch out for that.
Team Fights
![[image loading]](http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/WirelessWaffle/Brand8.jpg)
Use your long range to pop Banshees as much as possible before the fight, after the fight initiates pick a target for a combo (it’s really easy to combo with Rylais slow). After people have used most of their CC or they bunch up for some reason you can use your ultimate in the best place possible. Try your best not to use it on a lone enemy or on somebody that's on the fringe of the fight, the projectile travels so slow they can negate most of the damage.
If your teams cross paths and everybody is bunched up try an RQEW combo to delay their tanks control over the fight while still doing mass damage.
If you’re sneaky, hide in the brush until some cooldowns are gone or some enemies group up, your damage goes through the roof if you can do this properly. This is also where you can nuke their entire team to half hp.
Lead with Q, doesn’t matter who it hits as long as it hits, E that person, W everybody since their entire team is really slow and on fire then throw out an R that will hit full speed in no time. Congrats, you just did 1xQ + 5xE +5xW + 5xR in one combo and your Q just came off cooldown again. This is why I play brand, doesn’t matter if your team has no focus fire, blow up everyone.
The goal of your items in the late game is to make you last long enough to get out multiple stuns and blazed W’s for damage, while slowing down their entire team to make life on your team a lot easier for skill shots etc. Early game team fights are all about positioning and using your range to stay alive while doing damage.
DO NOT delay spells for extra ticks of your passive against anything but neutral creeps, putting your spells on cooldown so you can get them back up for more rotations is the point of this item build.
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ShakeDrizzle's guide to play Brand.
Spam Shift + 3.
DO IT
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Straight outta Johto18973 Posts
On June 18 2011 11:09 HazMat wrote:
ShakeDrizzle's guide to play Brand.
Spam Shift + 3.
DO IT
Lol. Brand animation so good.
As for the guide, I like most of it. A few questions though. Why do you open Q first? You acknowledge that W is better for lvl 1 fights but in lane you're relying on a skill shot for the first minute or so before you hit lvl 2. Brand was designed with lane dominance in mind (which is why his mana costs are on the low end) so I prefer opening W or E to start taking control of the lane. If you go E/W, W/E, Q you should still have your stun ready before the first gank unless it's someone like Nunu or Shaco who ganks at lvl 2.
R is really great when you're forcing a fight at dragon or baron since there won't be creeps to get in the way and you generally get all your bounces off.
I also prefer Ignite/Exhaust over Ghost since you don't really need Ghost if you have good positioning and Ignite/Exhaust gives you more power in team fights or even in lane.
But again, most of these are my personal preferences rather than anything else. Also, very nice guide. You can tell lots of effort went into it. Maybe put in some pretty pictures to help break up some text walls? 
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I've just been playing Brand on a smurf following this guide and it's been working out. Though like moonbear said, getting q first is dumb. I actually wait if theres a teamfight. If there is one I get w if not I get e for lane harras.
Also, Ignite flash imoimo. I also like getting spellvamp somewhere in my build.
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Marshall Islands3404 Posts
i thought people just play brand cause he makes funny noises, never really seen one do anything...ever
he's like a caster that doesnt do damage and has easily avoidable skill shots, which sucks cause his design is pretty cool (being able to have 3 different blaze effects)
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I play him because he is fun as fuck when fed on my smurf and spamming shift + 3 is da best on him.
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Just putting this out here, but sometimes when I go up against pokey enemy team comps or be up against really really annoying lanes - I rush a hextech revolver just to keep myself topped off. Don't recall the exact numbers, but I was healing quite a bit off blazed w and e's (not to mentioned bounced ults).
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On June 18 2011 11:30 MoonBear wrote:Show nested quote +On June 18 2011 11:09 HazMat wrote:
ShakeDrizzle's guide to play Brand.
Spam Shift + 3.
DO IT Lol. Brand animation so good. As for the guide, I like most of it. A few questions though. Why do you open Q first? You acknowledge that W is better for lvl 1 fights but in lane you're relying on a skill shot for the first minute or so before you hit lvl 2. Brand was designed with lane dominance in mind (which is why his mana costs are on the low end) so I prefer opening W or E to start taking control of the lane. If you go E/W, W/E, Q you should still have your stun ready before the first gank unless it's someone like Nunu or Shaco who ganks at lvl 2. R is really great when you're forcing a fight at dragon or baron since there won't be creeps to get in the way and you generally get all your bounces off. I also prefer Ignite/Exhaust over Ghost since you don't really need Ghost if you have good positioning and Ignite/Exhaust gives you more power in team fights or even in lane. But again, most of these are my personal preferences rather than anything else. Also, very nice guide. You can tell lots of effort went into it. Maybe put in some pretty pictures to help break up some text walls?
Not including level 1 fights I go Q first because
- Long range ( safe poke without them being able to fight back )
- Lowest mana cost (10 mana less per cast lol), lowest CD, and highest dmg before you can get a Blaze + W
- Brand does lane dominance well but he needs a combo to really be a jerk to the other person, (imo) so i usually play a really passive poke style before level 2/3
- Q and W @ lvl 2 is risk free harassment because of the range and you have your stun if something goes bad.
- I like to bush check
W works too, but if an early gank comes (lvl 2 like u described) i'd really rather be in the position where i''ve been taking 0 dmg, i'm around 700 range from the person i'm fighting and I have the option of a level 2 EQ combo. Landing a WQ combo to escape a nunu or shaco gank has never ended well for me and I try to save my flash so i can go for aggression between lvl 4-6. If you feel really safe vs the champ you're laning against and the jungler on the other team you can be super jerk with WE combos; but i'm usually uncomfortable with getting Q @ level 3-4, i just don't see the need to risk it since you can put out so much damage in such a short time between levels 4-6.
So in general, to play like a pansy until i can get all my combos (lvl 3) to control a 1v1 and basically guarantee they get forced to back and i can free farm. Some lanes can be abused with E-->Q/W for the first two levels but i prefer long range safety for most solo lanes. I think E has 600 range and that puts you in unneeded danger vs some champs before you can start really dominating with combos.
For summoners besides flash it's completely personal preference, i just like kiting with rylais + ghost and being able to haul ass if a team fight starts before i get there, (gogo solo Q) pretty much anything can work in the second slot.
I'll root around for pictures, was thinking about that then i popped the post into a word document and realized i wrote like 1.5k words lol
Edit: There, prettified
Edit#2: spell vamp sounds very good, i'll have to try it out. I don't get it because i'm strapped for money/slots and i like getting MR/armor to synergize with the health pool gained from rylais.
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I know Pyroclasm is canceled by death, but what happens when you die with GA/Chronoshift? Does it keep bouncing?
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Flash + Exhaust wins games
Open W first please. You even state you AFK farm mode till level 2 when you open Q instead of W. Establish dominance early.
I disagree with your laning strategy. Mad pushing down the lane is ultimately suicide if they have a competent jungler. (Against most lanes you can start being a major jackass around level 5 and zone them with the threat of a EQW combo or just a WE/EW when they're around their caster creeps.)
You can be a jackass from level 1.
You should add some "tips" to land W.
E.G. People almost always retreat directly backwards.
EDIT: more suggestions after sleep.
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On June 19 2011 03:57 Tooplark wrote:
I know Pyroclasm is canceled by death, but what happens when you die with GA/Chronoshift? Does it keep bouncing?
Keeps bouncing with GA so i'd assume the same for chronoshift
On June 19 2011 16:53 rwrzr wrote:
Flash + Exhaust wins games
Open W first please. You even state you AFK farm mode till level 2 when you open Q instead of W. Establish dominance early.
I disagree with your laning strategy. Mad pushing down the lane is ultimately suicide if they have a competent jungler. (Against most lanes you can start being a major jackass around level 5 and zone them with the threat of a EQW combo or just a WE/EW when they're around their caster creeps.)
You can be a jackass from level 1.
You should add some "tips" to land W.
E.G. People almost always retreat directly backwards.
EDIT: more suggestions after sleep.
Most people hang out around their caster creeps or at least walk into them when trying to last hit so opening W and trying to harass with it pushes the lane or ends up in wasted mana if you try to avoid hitting creeps while still hitting them.
Landing W before boots is pretty much guaranteed, and after boots it's like most skill shots. After the first couple attempts you can usually predict how a person jukes unless they're extremely conscious about doing random dodge patterns. Most people have a habit of juking in different directions @ their tower, in mid, and @ your tower. I'll pop that into the guide.
Some lanes I prefer having EQ @ level 2 such as melee jumpers because hitting them while they last hit with W is impossible and opens you up for freebie harassment such as rene/irelia. It also allows poke/harass starting at level 2 while being safe in case they jump because you can stun them mid dash; if they bait a W then rush you you will take free damage.
Q first is so i'll have the option of stun @ Lvl 2 while the level 2 ability I pick is the start of dedicated harassment.
Edit: Q first isn't the only way to go obviously, it's just a general guide, people have different styles/knowledge of the game; i just like being able to harass the other person when i can be sure that they won't being able to send anything my way if I play well i.e. land my Q's.
Edit#2: Can someone tell me if the pics are loading, there should be 8 total.
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I usually open aggressive with EWQEER E>W>Q
E first gives guarenteed hits and you don't have to worry about pushing the lane early if you W under a ton of minions.
EW combo at 2 is half their HP gone. At 3 with Q and Ignite, can usually get first blood if you play aggressive and your opponent plays sloppy.
I'm only 9-2 with Brand in ranked though and only occasionally played him in normals. 1767 ELO.
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only see 3 pics.
As to the comments about skill openings. I guess it is ultimately up to the player because Brand is one of those champs that Q,W,E are all viable at level 1.
Also Brand is probably #1 botlane warrior.
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On June 20 2011 07:54 rwrzr wrote:
only see 3 pics.
As to the comments about skill openings. I guess it is ultimately up to the player because Brand is one of those champs that Q,W,E are all viable at level 1.
Also Brand is probably #1 botlane warrior.
Really don't see Brand beating a Jax or Jarvan on bot lane, with the brushes and all. What to think about stuff like Vayne + Taric?
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On June 20 2011 07:12 SBelmont wrote:
I usually open aggressive with EWQEER E>W>Q
E first gives guarenteed hits and you don't have to worry about pushing the lane early if you W under a ton of minions.
EW combo at 2 is half their HP gone. At 3 with Q and Ignite, can usually get first blood if you play aggressive and your opponent plays sloppy.
I'm only 9-2 with Brand in ranked though and only occasionally played him in normals. 1767 ELO.
Would you open the same vs irelia/jarv/jax/cait/vayne top lane? I found that when i opened E vs strong top laners I get out poked at level 1.
irelia cause well, irelia
jarv Q + passive is basically on par with Brand's E + Passive and he's tankier
jax with boots first and ~20 AD from runes and masteries messes up opening aggressive
cait range is absurd imo
vayne tumble OP
That's my most common experience with those chars.
On June 20 2011 07:54 rwrzr wrote:
only see 3 pics.
As to the comments about skill openings. I guess it is ultimately up to the player because Brand is one of those champs that Q,W,E are all viable at level 1.
Also Brand is probably #1 botlane warrior.
How many pics now?
Brand bot lane is too fun, especially if you're paired with a point and click stun.
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If you want to try something funny try this Rune + Item Build
Mpen red, mp5/lvl yellow, ap/lvl blue, flat AP quints
(I run flash exhaust, but ignite could work)
1-2 Drings (I usually hit 2)
Boots 1 -> Sorc
ROA + Rylais
Into Either DCap or Void
Having 2.9k HP is so funny
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Updated after messing around with Boots + Pots first and mixing in Revolver/WotA after Rylais.
Boots + Pots allows for extreme aggression from the get go and Spell Vamp is extremely solid after Rylais. Whether you get WotA directly after revolver is mainly based on whether your team benefits from it or you feel the need to get Deathcap ASAP.
Early spell vamp works out the best if you can get early blues, the CDR + infinite mana is what really puts revolver/wota over the top for fights/laning.
Also, if you're fed spell vamp helps keep the lead since you'll rarely have to back from your lane
Ex
Boots + Pots ---> Dring
Sorc Shoes
Giants Belt
Revolver
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Rushing rylias on a burst caster makes no sense imo. Just build him like annie. Boots+3, couple of dorans, cap ->facerape.
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EPT
